A joint manifesto against energy waste in buildings, aiming to cut consumption by 80 per cent by 2050 compared to 2010 levels, has been launched by Renovate Europe, a new European campaign designed to raise awareness among institutions and citizens across the EU's 28 member states about energy retrofitting.

Renovate Europe is a campaign promoted by 31 supporting organisations, bringing together non-governmental associations, local authorities, trade unions, expert groups and the services sector. Italy is represented by the business network Irene. The aim is to promote a series of legislative measures and retrofit programmes for the built heritage of the Old Continent, which is currently responsible for 40 per cent of total European energy consumption and 36 per cent of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

The savings would amount to 240 billion euros a year and, across professions ranging from manual labour to engineering, two million new jobs would be created. The manifesto is divided into points outlining the advantages of incentives for energy retrofitting:

• They boost the local and national economy
• They reduce the need for (heating) fuels and therefore dependence on Arab suppliers
• They improve Europe's energy resilience: greater security
• They reduce the costs of welfare benefits because they bring many people back into work, and help undeclared work come into the open
• They improve quality of life and housing conditions
• They allow for a significant reduction in CO2 and above all in urban pollution, smog
• They encourage, through the adoption of better technologies, the renewal of cities across Europe
• They improve prospects for small and medium-sized enterprises
• They increase the competence of public administrations

To this end, on 2 April a petition will be launched, simultaneously in Brussels and across the various EU countries; the signatures collected will be presented to candidates in the European elections, who will be asked to commit to putting a stop to energy waste in European buildings.